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AUTHOR INFO

Taya Weiss

An organizer of and participant in Project XRW and co-founder of Raise the Sky, a non-profit organization that connects skydivers with opportunities to do amazing stuff in the sky and in our communities.
Contact me via taya@raisethesky.org

RAISE THE SKY’S PROJECT XRW TIMELINE

Canopy-wingsuit interaction has a history longer than Project XRW. This timeline represents the evolution of a specific project with a dedicated and highly experienced team of wingsuit flyers, canopy pilots, data crunchers, and ground crew managers.

Jessica Edgeington of the PD Factory Team and Taya Weiss of Raise the Sky became the first women to achieve multiple sustained docks between a wingsuit and parachute. The expanded team, including PD Factory Team members Tagle and Ian Bobo and wingsuit pilots Nebelkopf, Will Kitto, David Gershfeld, and videographer Peggs, flew the first mixed wingsuit-canopy flock and double rodeo docks (two docked wingsuit-canopy pairs in surfing configuration).

Charity Benefit: Raise the Sky launched the Flying Dreams Project to benefit and inspire children in under-resourced schools.

February 2011

Project XRW: Abu Dhabi

At the opening ceremony of the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, a mixed flock was presented as a demonstration jump for the first time. Participants included Edgeington, Tagle, and Bobo of the PD Factory Team, and wingsuit pilots Weiss, Nebelkopf, Peggs, Barry Holubeck, Jeb Corliss, and videographer Craig O’Brien.

August 2011

Project XRW: New England

In the skies over Skydive New England in Lebanon, Maine, Edgeington and Weiss paired up for a low-key exploration of XRW performance at lighter wing loadings. Weiss’s exit weight is approximately 133 pounds, and Edgeington wears 35 pounds of weight in competition. They were able to fly proximate without trim tab risers, and take sustained hand docks at far lighter wing loadings than anything that had been done before.

January 2012

Project XRW: Sebastian

The team expansion project included PD Factory Team pilots Edgeington, Tagle, and Bobo, wingsuit pilots Weiss, Nebelkopf, Kitto, Holubeck, Mike Swanson, Roberta Mancino, Jhonathan Florez, and Mark Harris. The group flew the largest mixed wingsuit-canopy flock to date, a 9-way. The team also experimented with and achieved multiple configurations of 7- and 8-way formations and the world’s first XRW CRW-style surf dock.

Team expansion continued with new canopy pilots Billy Sharman, Timmy McMaster, Mikeal Stevens, and Wuzi Wagner (organized by Jonathan Tagle) and the wingsuit pilots from Sebastian (organized by Taya Weiss). More details in the next issue!